The Last Five Years
by MomentarySetback
Summary: Ryan wasn't quite sure what to expect. He'd been under for five years now, and he knew that when you surfaced again from undercover work the world was just a little different than you remembered it. A little darker. Changed. / Eric/Calleigh-centric but from Ryan's perspective after being gone five years. / Just a random little one-shot.


_Note: So I have this file of old Eric/Calleigh ideas from many years back. Sometimes I look back at them and get inspired to write one or finish something off. With this one, I actually wrote half of it probably more than six years ago and then got completely stuck. When looking over it recently, I just picked right up where I left off and magically finished it. Writing is weird like that. Hope you enjoy._

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Ryan wasn't quite sure what to expect.

He'd been under for five years now, and he knew that when you surfaced again from undercover work the world was just a little different than you remembered it. A little darker. Changed.

He didn't exactly know why he'd done it. But he did know, in retrospect, that he'd been preparing for it for years. He'd been distancing himself, putting up a slightly cool front that completely buried the naivety he'd had upon starting at CSI. With every mistrust of a teammate, with every troubling case, every inquiry by IAB, every doubt because of his past…he'd been battening down the hatches one at a time.

Maybe he'd wanted to prove himself, or maybe he really just didn't care anymore – about anything.

But that couldn't be true, could it? Because, standing before this familiar place after five years, he hadn't expected _this_ , and it bothered him. He was smack dab in the middle of the lobby of a place that had once been so achingly, boringly familiar that he'd been desperate for a change…and now he didn't recognize a thing. Not a wall, or a table, or a person.

It had all been redone – industrial-style beams bracing black walls at harsh, modern angles, natural light spilling in both from skylights and from slits of windows along hallways that looked like metro tunnels.

His world wasn't just a little different. It had been turned upside down.

He didn't know the receptionist, and the techs bustling around paid no mind to him. It suddenly hit him that he didn't know anyone here – or did he?

He caught sight of platinum blonde hair and an assured stride coming down the hallway, and he knew. Calleigh.

As she drew closer, though, he realized even she was different. Her hair was still long but a decent amount shorter, brushing just past her shoulders with stylish side-swept bangs framing her face. Her presence was even more commanding than it had been before: a perfectly tailored black suit hugging her frame over a white pinstripe blouse and heels, hips swaying with confident, calculated steps, jaw set as she glanced into a layout room as she passed by. A tech peeking out from a room captured her attention, running the results from some file by her, and Calleigh ran a finger over her brow before decidedly replying.

It was after that that she saw him, brows furrowing in surprise just before a smile graced her face. Her lips formed his name, and now her steps were long and easy, the last few a little hurried as she excitedly wrapped her arms around him in a warm, friendly hug. She was obviously more than a little relieved to see him, after years of not knowing where he was or if he was okay, and it showed in the way she squeezed him just a little tighter and longer.

"It's so good to see you," she said as she pulled away. Her hands lingered on his shoulders as she checked him out in that big sister way she'd always had with him. He was freshly shaven, something he'd very quickly resumed after far too long of growing out facial hair for his gig, and he had a new scar at the edge of his eyebrow that worried her a little. "You look good."

"So do you," he said honestly, looking her up and down again. "You're different…" he trailed off, searching her face as a mischievous little smile toyed at her lips.

Just then, a phone cut through the soft background noise of the bustling lab and she fished it from her back pocket and lifted it to her ear. It was then that he noticed it: a platinum solitaire diamond ring on her left hand coupled with an elegant diamond wedding band, beautiful but practical – unobtrusive enough to wear under gloves and so completely Calleigh.

Calleigh was married.

She followed his gaze and watched the realization wash over him, watched the moment he paused, furrowed his brows, and opened his mouth to speak – but waited because she was busy.

With an amused grin, she tucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and listened to the call. "Uh huh, I know." She tilted her head, patiently listening to details. "Okay, well just take Sam and Taylor. I don't want to spook this guy. Call if you need back-up." She paused. "Okay, good luck….bye."

"You're married," he said very suspiciously the moment she hung up, like he never thought he'd see the day and this perplexing bit of information was the final straw in completely turning his world upside down.

"I am," she happily confirmed, her southern lilt strongly coating those words.

"CSI Calleigh Duquesne married," he said aloud, testing the words. "Wait, is that still your name?" He raised a brow.

"Yes." Chuckling, she she stood up a little straighter. "But that's Lieutenant Duquesne now, thank you very much."

Ryan raised his brows again, letting that sink in. It was perfectly fitting. She deserved it; if he'd trust anyone to run a CSI team of his or her own, it would be Calleigh. This was far less surprising, and an easy smile tugged at his lips as he nodded in acceptance.

"That I'm not surprised by," he finally said. "Congratulations. You deserve it."

"Thank you," she replied sincerely, reveling in the compliment for a moment.

"What happened to H?" was his next question – a likely one.

"Still here of course," Calleigh assured. "We added a second team, partly due to workload and partly because of some necessary rearranging…"

She smiled wistfully with a look that told him she'd explain everything later. And then she grew a little lighter and playful again, asking, "Do you want the triple whammy?"

Ryan hesitated, painfully curious but also wondering how much more change he could honestly process. "Well, why stop now?" he finally concluded.

The smile that appeared across her lips was like none he'd seen before, lighting up her entire face and crinkling the laugh lines at the corners of her eyes. She bit her lip as she moved her thumb across the screen of her phone, eyes crumbling with emotion at something on the screen before she passed it to him.

The photo filling up her screen surprisingly also stole his breath away. It was a school or daycare photo of a little boy, no more than three years old. He was Calleigh's spitting image with nearly identical features: the high cheeks, heart-shaped face, blonde hair, and bright green eyes. Everything about him was just a little darker… a burst of brown surrounding the edges of his green eyes, his hair more of a golden, dirty blonde, and his skin quite a bit more naturally tanned than her own. And then there was his smile – not hers at all but so familiar and full of mischief he could nearly put his finger on it.

"You're a mom," he realized aloud, eyes softening on her as he handed the phone back to her. "He's beautiful."

Calleigh smiled proudly, but her eyes studied him like she was waiting for something else. Her eyes drifted to the screen again and a secret little smile worked its way across her lips.

"Wolfe?!" The familiar voice from behind Calleigh stole their attention, and Calleigh turned to find Eric making his way to them. He breezed past Calleigh to give Ryan a friendly hug, patting his back as he pulled away. "It's good to see you man. How are you? You good?"

Eric's eyes carefully studied Ryan, looking for signs of the darkness that sometimes followed cops who went under even after they'd surfaced again.

"I'm good," he assured, pausing a little before he nodded. "Glad to be back."

"It's good to have you back." Eric's eyes trailed back to Calleigh, nodding towards the phone she was just now slipping back into her pocket and smiling conspiratorially. "Did you show him?"

Ryan eyed them carefully, noting something in their interactions he again couldn't quite put his finger on. They were a little too familiar, a little too...something.

"I did," Calleigh confirmed, crossing her arms over her chest and furrowing her brows as an amused smile spread across her lips. "But I don't think he's figured it out yet."

Eric chuckled, and there it was – that smile. The same mischievous one that was present in every ounce of Calleigh's kid's smile. _Their_ kid's smile, he realized now. Jaw dropping, Ryan's eyes danced between them before falling to Eric's hand, finding a matching platinum wedding band there.

"You two got married," he realized aloud, blurting the words out as soon as they came to him. "And you have a kid. Holy crap."

Necessary rearranging, Ryan repeated in his head. Of course. Can't have two team members engaged in a relationship, let alone married with a kid… IAB would've had a field day with that one and he almost wished he'd been around to witness it.

Calleigh's pressed-together lips lost their battle against smiling, a broad one lighting up her features as she playfully looked between Ryan and Eric.

The shock of what had changed was wearing off, and once it had he honestly wasn't that surprised. He'd always suspected there was something between them, and in the early days of their relationship he seemed to be the only one who had it figured out: the way they ignored each other in the field, the little glances they couldn't resist sharing, the cars that had remained at the lab overnight, Eric's repeated outfits, and the matching morning to-go coffee cups…

Which, speaking of… "Dude. Talia owes me a hundred bucks. Does she still work here?"

Calleigh's laughter blended with Eric's chuckles as she raised her brows at the fact that they'd been bet on, and Ryan had to admit that they were rather adorable.

"Yeah, but she has her own lab upstairs now," Calleigh explained, nodding towards the elevator. "Come on, you need card access. I'll take you."

"Think she'd put that hundred toward a round a Brennan's?" Eric asked, looking between them as they began to make their way to the elevator.

"I think we could persuade her," Ryan said, genuinely grinning for probably the dozenth time that day, all since entering the lab.

Maybe all this crazy change had been for the better, he realized as he watched Calleigh playfully eye Eric for his mischievous idea. And it sure was good to be back.


End file.
